It’s official…summer is here, whether we are ready for it or not. And with it comes heat. Every year the temperatures seem to get higher, which creates more greenhouses gasses since people use increasingly more AC to keep their houses cool. However, there are other ways to stay cool in the heat of the summer and be green at the same time.
While you can’t really change the position of your house or plant more trees around it to give out shade, you most likely can paint the exterior of your house a light color that will reflect the sun instead of absorbing it. And for future’s reference, you may want to reconsider the tree planting solution… It may not be a quick fix but in the long run it is a good way to not only keep your house cooler but reduce some of the greenhouse gasses as well.
Another thing anyone can do is use floor and ceiling fans. They consume 90% less energy than the conventional AC and make the room 7 to 10 degrees cooler. Besides, the air conditioning units contain fluorocarbon-based refrigerants, which damage the ozone layer and are part of the cause of global warming. If the regular fans are not cooling the air enough for you, you may want to consider installing an attic fan, which draws air over the wet pads thus reducing the temperature in your house up to 30 degrees. This type of fan costs half the price of AC uses 75% less energy. However, since they raise humidity indoors, they are good only for dry climates.
If you must have air conditioning, however, look for an energy efficient model (i.e. Energy Star rated) with an Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER) above 10 on window units and Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER) on whole-house units. This ratio measures a cooling output divided by the unit’s power consumption. Moreover, make sure you have a unit that deals effectively with your local humidity levels.
And keep the temperature settings on, let’s say, 72 instead of 55 or 60. Not only will it save you money on the electric bill, but reduce your own emission of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
These sound like great ways to cool off during the summer time, but seeing how this weather is switching up every other week I can never tell if it’s summer or winter. Most of the time I catch myself blasting the heater instead of the ac because of how cold it gets. It even started raining a couple of weeks ago, and I thought April showers were supposed to bring May flowers and everything was supposed to be dandy after that. I got a ceiling fan built in for NOTHING. But at least I’ve got winter covered because I switched to bioheat. It’s awesome! Have you heard of it? It’s pretty popular in the green community. It’s biodegradable and non-toxic, so you won’t have to breathe in all of those nasty fumes. The best part is that it’s made of heating oils blended with every-day products like avocado and corn. Cool right?
I found out about it through my job here at NORA. I did more research on it and found out some great info and more tips from:
http://oilheatamerica.com/index.mv?screen=bioheat.
Check it out and see what other suggestions are offered.